100 years Moto Guzzi – Patina, history, technology

A visit to the Moto Guzzi factory in Mandello del Lario. The trip there is not only worthwhile because of the beautiful Lake Como – the exhibits in the Moto Guzzi Museum are also fascinating! A picture gallery smelling of oil and old metal.

During a short holiday on Lake Como, we were surprised by the opening hours of the Moto Guzzi Museum in Mandello del Lario – perfect. So into the time-honoured halls we go! Only a few visitors do the same, we can move freely between the countless motorcycles on display, touch them and take photos.

Ancient motorcycles, just centimetres behind a tight barrier tape, are leaking oil and operating fluids, standing on flat, porous tyres, some gathering dust. Over everything lies this slightly morbid charm of a museum whose best days are long behind it.

Italian seniors bend over „their“ Falcone, remembering the rides with their wives and the heroic deeds of the racing drivers of their time, to whom homage is paid on large posters. Bashfully, they reach over the barrier tape and turn the highly patinated throttle handles.

„THOSE were motorcycles“, you hear again and again. And I cannot deny that I would not be impressed by the countless technical solutions that Moto Guzzi had in its quiver decades ago. And: What ideas have eventually found their way into my Ducati?

The inventive spirit is omnipresent, prototypes and the thoughts that once lay behind them are explained on display boards. At the same time, the museum presents itself in this typical Italian nonchalance, which not only once puts a big question mark on my face.

All of this is highly interesting and definitely worth a visit!